Warlords

An Extraordinary Re-Creation of World War II Through the Eyes and Minds of Hitler, Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin

By: Joanna Potts, Simon Berthon

Narrated by: Michael Page

Warlords recreates in forensic and gripping detail the extraordinary mind games between Churchill, Hitler, Stalin, and Roosevelt as World War Two unfolded day by day.

In a unique combination of innovative style and thorough scholarship, Warlords tells the story of World War II through the lives of the four great war leaders: Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Winston Churchill, and Franklin Roosevelt.

While their nations fought battles with weapons, the four warlords of the twentieth century fought a war of the mind. Structured along the lines of a cinematic thriller, rapidly cutting from one man to the next, the book takes us blow by blow as they try to outthink and outfight each other. These encounters are told on a day-by-day, even hour-by-hour basis, affording unparalleled insights into parallel actions.

Moving from Whitehall and Washington to the Wolf's Lair and the Kremlin, Warlords documents the psychological battles among the leaders and shows how their thoughts and actions changed history.

©2013 Simon Berthon and Joanna Potts (P)2022 Tantor

As if you are right at their elbows

This was a very good idea: oral histories of in-the-room moments with these crucial leaders. Meanwhile, the larger picture is well-woven with the action. The personal details add much color and meaning. I got new vistas into the viewpoints of Churchill and Roosevelt in particular, as to strategy and tactics for a postwar world. Roosevelt wanted a post-colonial world (and allowed himself to be manipulated by Stalin, step by step), while Churchill tried to hang onto British prestige and reach, all the while deeply (and rightly) mistrusting Stalin. Whatever good intentions floated around, Poland was thrown under the Soviet bus. Hitler's unraveling was well depicted. Stalin's evil genius (and clever outer expressions in the presence of these grandees) is well displayed. The end takes, for me, a sad tone as exhaustion accompanies victory.

Two big take-aways

I first read this book, in Kindle form, several years ago and decided to give it another go, this time in Audible format. The book is reasonably interesting, although there is not much new here other than some diary entries that I don't remember seeing in other books. The format is to look at the actions of Churchill, Hitler, Roosevelt and Stalin as their actions related to the Second World War, and give the reader a chance to compare how they acted and what the results were. One of the things that makes this book different from the hundreds, if not thousands, of other books about the leaders during WW II is that this book compares their actions at the same points in time, thus giving us a view of how each reacted to specific events.

There are two big take-aways from this book. The first is how shabbily Roosevelt treated Churchill. Churchill, perhaps the greatest statesman of the period, given his understanding and often unique opposition to Nazi Germany and his leadership in preventing Great Britain from coming to a peace accord with Hitler, was lied to, connived against and led on by Roosevelt not only on the lead-up to US entry to the war, but also during the war. The second is how naive Roosevelt was regarding Stalin and how ignorant that view is, given what we know now about Stalin and his actions. Roosevelt came to begin to understand his mistake, but it took years longer than it took anyone else to realize that giving Stalin all he wanted was not any way to create a stable and peaceful era after the end of World War II. Roosevelt, a man who was supposed to have had an insightful understanding of others, failed completely when it came to Stalin and would not listen to those who did understand what was involved. In general this book is not kind to Roosevelt.

Tha narration is very well done, the material is interesting, even if mostly known to those who have read about the war and the only thing I can find to criticize about the book (written and Audible formats) is that there are no breaks between sections that cover material that would normally be separated by spacing on a page to indicate the change in subject. Because the written book does not have these breaks, neither does the Audible version.

Still, an interesting and informative book, both for those who want an overview of the period and for those knowledgeable about the war who want to learn something about the thoughts and motivations of those leading their respective nations.

Three Way Chess Game

Having read extensively on WWII, this book delighted me with a new perspective I had never seen before. The book deals with the European war and the triumvirate of allied leaders: where they were united and where their goals were in conflict. Though Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin were united in defeating Germany, each had other unspoken, conflicting, end-game geopolitical goals in mind causing tension amongst them. By the end of the book's epilogue these differing goals are clear.

I now have a better understanding why Churchill wanted the second front in the East Mediterranean, not Italy; why Stalin was probably relieved that it was in Italy; why Roosevelt played along with Stalin during the last month of his life; and why Eisenhower, an impeccably astute politician, did what no general should ever do in unilaterally deciding how the last weeks of the war should go without consulting his Commander in Chief.

Quite a chess game behind the smiles of Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Churchill, and Stalin (well maybe he didn't smile) on the covers of 1940s Life magazines from the War which I read in my grandfather's attic when I was 10.

Narrative not as advertised

The description of how the story was written is that it is told through the eyes and minds of the four warlords of World War II in Europe: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin and Hitler. But the narrative is actually mostly a straightforward telling of the story of the actions and interactions of these four men with some quotes from them and others, notably from the diaries of Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels and Roosevelt relative and confidante Daisy Suckley.

I did learn some new details about this time in history, but the story isn’t the revelation of these four personalities that the description of the book led me to expect. I am glad it is an audiobook included in my membership and I didn’t pay for it.

The most interesting part of the book comes in the epilogue where the authors conclude that Churchill didn’t attend Roosevelt’s funeral because their relationship wasn’t really the great friendship that it is usually said to have been. From the story the book tells of them, the authors are probably correct.